Lucas Raphael Choronicles
by Smog3
Summary: Lucas,an 18-year old boy,gets separated from his friends and he quests to find them and embarks on an epic journey.
1. Chapter 1: The Falling

Chapter 1: The Falling

'John, please. Stop it,' I pleaded. It was so typical of John to criticize on Camille's lack of fashion sense. She looked okay to me. I would rate her six out of ten. She was wearing a plain white sleeveless t-shirt with brown shorts and flip flops. It was a little boyish but passable through a boy's eyes. The only exception would be John.

Despite her slight lack of fashion sense, Camille Anne Morganne was _gorgeous_. The blonde had long wavy hair with a pink streak at the back. Her creamy white skin had some kind of light pinkish glow that matched her hair. The eyes were dazzlingly blue. She had long slender legs and a rocking body. She looked like a supermodel. Camille has this British-Russian accent that she inherited from her parents. It was really different, sort of…_sexy._

John Nathan, my somehow identical looking best friend, is also good looking. He has extremely contrasted dark curly hair, pale white creamy skin, dark green eyes, a straight nose, wide jaws, full red lips and gleaming white teeth. He has an average built body. The only thing he considers a flaw is his voice, it was _normal_. We looked similar, really. Only, I have long and wavy dark auburn hair, chocolate brown eyes and higher cheek bones.

The two were my bestest of friends. We've known each other ever since we were born! We lived in the same neighborhood for seventeen years then we moved to the Pacific Ocean.Yes_, ocean. _See, the three of us are insanely rich (Technically, parents, but you get the gist). So our parents decided for us to go live somewhere private. Extremely private. Where else more private than the ocean? Well, there is the sky and probably an uncharted island but they thought that ships were less noisy than airplanes and pirates were more likely to visit than relatives. Not that we have a lot of relatives. I only have one family relative like John. Only Camille has two other family relatives. Our house was not built on stilts; it was built _under _the ocean.

Our parents didn't just choose a random location, the place had to have sunlight passing through for vegetation to grow, just the right amount of altitude so we could handle the pressure and other stuff. The house was built under a nearly unbreakable see-through globe-like structure that was so huge that it took one fifth of the ocean's space. Conveniently, the location of the house is in the middle of the ocean. Semi circle tubes were joined to some of the edges of the globe for us to get out from under water. Each family has one jet and pilot to get to places.

We rarely go out, though. Since we have everything down here and by everything I mean EVERYTHING. We can even go sky-diving here. We don't get lonely, because we have hundreds of workers here working for us. We treat them like friends. They treat us like friends too. It took our parents exactly seventeen years to make the whole thing. The three of us and our families live in the same house. Though, palace would be the more suitable word. School did not bother us. We already knew everything we needed. Having being home-schooled and taught by some of the greatest teachers in the world and having good brains was an addition to the perfect life we have. Everything was perfect.

'You're right. But seriously, Cammy, you'd be fit to be one of us,' John replied.

'I know, I know. I just don't get it,' Camille said miserably.

'Maybe you should get Sandra to help you. She always looks great,' I suggested. She is John's Pilot.

'You mean Cassandra? Yeah, I guess so. And stop calling her _Sandra_ you know she hates that,' she said.

John chuckled.

'So guys, what shall we do today?' she asked. They both looked at me.

'Err…I was thinking of paintball,' I said lamely.

'Against who? Arteta and his group again? They will crush us, Luke!' John said with wide eyes. That was true. But Arteta, Damien and Francessca were not the challengers I had in mind.

'No. Bradley's group challenged us. They should be okay, right?' I asked.

They were quiet for a while. Then they nodded. Camille is our most talented shooter. Her eyes were extremely sharp. And her accuracy was…_wow._ You would be asking why we couldn't beat Arteta's group. Imagine this, three Camille's of the same quality in a group. That was how they were like. Paintball, to us, is like football is to Brazil. We love it.

'Excellent. I'd like to see the look on Gray's face when we beat them. He's been bragging all day about how they beat Arteta's group. Its lucky Arteta's group doesn't have a scout or navigator.' she said with a grin on her face.

'Okay then. To the Coliseum we go! Last one there is a rotten egg!' John said while running. Camille and I ran to catch up and laughed a lot.

The coliseum was already filling up with people when we came in through the open iron gates of the entrance. This looked more like a tournament than a friendly. Should have known Gray would have turned it into something big. We saw the trio in the center of the sand field talking to Simon, the referee, and approached them swiftly.

'Took you long enough. Hey, Cammy!' Gray said, flashing a grin at her.

Camille stuck her tongue out and scowled at him.

He laughed. 'No need to be sour, love. You'll be mine after the game'.

'Whatever,' she said, throwing him a disgusted face.

We huddled around Simon while he explained the mode and rules. This was a three hit match, with no refilling the paintgun tank. We were only given a certain amount so if ammo ran out, you would be a sitting duck.

The rules however, remained the same. No physical contact and no cheating. Now, how would you know if you've been hit three times? Well, the armor breaks after you get hit thrice. This was to prevent cheating. Cool eh?

We were given five minutes to prepare. Then we were asked to go to the preferred position. Preferably not too close to the opponent for you would be taken out easily. The field was simple. It has an 'o' shape and barricades scattered all around the field for cover.

Our group formed a triangle with one meter spaced between each of us. Bradley's group just formed a straight line. Probably trying to take us all at once. We, on the other hand, planned to knock them out one by one. Starting off with the weak link: Gray.

The only good player was Henry, who was the quietest of the three. But he would be nothing without Gray. Gray's navigating abilities were indescribable. It was natural to him. Gray is the eye of the team. Henry is the hands. Bradley, the eye sockets and arms. The supporter. In our group, Camille was always in the middle with John and me covering either side. Things go quite fast paced when we play. Things got even faster paced in this game. There was a barricade north from us not three feet away.

We glanced at each other and knew instantly what to do. When the gun was shot signaling that the game had started, all three of us jumped forward, shot carefully aimed shots at Gray and ducked for cover as a paintball swooshed pass my left ear. We heard the shattering armor about thirty meters away. Our shots were a success! Then we heard Gray swear at the top of his lungs.

Then we made another move to the left, rolling behind another barricade while shooting another volley of paintballs at Henry through the gap between our first and second barricade. There was another shattering sound about twenty meters away. This was going far better than planned. They were getting closer to us. But not close enough to surprise us.

This left Bradley alone. We heard nothing. The navigator in our team was John. He did not know where Bradley was. So he looked at me and I nodded. I knew what to do. I was the scout. I could scout well. I moved swiftly and stealthily forwards ducking from cover to cover. There was no sign of him.

I was almost at the other end when I realized what was happening. How could I have been so _careless?_ I should have analyzed my opponents more thoroughly. We underestimated the enemy. Of course, Bradley was the stealthy one. I've seen him running around without a sound and extremely fast in the field next to the coliseum. He must have gone around the field as soon as Simon pulled the trigger on the gun.

I turned back and ran as fast as I could but I knew it was too late because I heard the two shattering sounds followed by a humorless laugh that reverberated off the walls of the coliseum. Usually, players would not hear the audience who were watching them. But now, I heard them. Gasping, cheering and booing. I was all alone now. A deathmatch.

I stared in shock as I realized that I had been shot twice. One more shot and we would lose. I could not disappoint my friends. I thought quickly. The other thing I was good at was assault. But could assault actually beat stealth in a death match like this? No. But I had to try. I listened intently to my surroundings and focused my eyes to the extremes. There. One 'o' clock from me and moving fast to the west. Going for the kill. I knew what to do in these kinds of situations: predict. So I predicted where Bradley would move and just shot._ Thud. Thud. Thud._

'You did it!' Camille cheered and ran towards me to hug me closely followed by John with a huge grin on his face.

'You got lucky, man!' he said still grinning and punched my shoulder playfully.

I could not help but grin back at him. I loved these moments. But nothing made me happier than Camille and her warm hugs. She had this unexplainable cheerful radiance. You could not stay mad at her for long. Even if you wanted to. I loved Camille as much as I loved John. But Camille was different. I _love _Camille. I had been secretly crushing on Cammy ever since I was fourteen. The only people who knew were my mom and John. My dad died when I was six. He was a great man. I don't know how Camille feels about me but I hope she feels the same way.

Camille is fun, unpredictable, wild, charming, kind, fierce, selfless and caring. In other words, _perfect_. John, on the other hand, liked being single. He liked flirting with girls. He does not play with them of course. He just has flings. But the girls are crazy for him. Like I am for Camille.

'Nice game,' Bradley said. He held his hand out to shake my hand.

'Yeah! And you really have to teach me how to move like that someday!' I said admiring the memory demonstrated not so long ago.

'HAH! Just look at him!' Camille said, pointing her index finger at Gray sulking at the entrance and giggling to herself. The sound took my breath away. When will this woman ever cease to amaze me?

'We will play again someday, yes?' Bradley continued.

I nodded and said farewell. Then I put one arm around Camille's waist and the other around John's neck and pulled them into a tight hug. Then we walked home. We were pretty quiet all the way home. Too happy about winning, apparently. But it wasn't awkward. Definitely not awkward. Awkwardness doesn't really exist in our tight bond anymore.

'What time is it, John?' I asked.

'Four thirty, Luke,' he said while looking at his ridiculously expensive watch. Hm…the sky isn't dark yet, I thought to myself. That was strange. The sky usually got extremely black by now. But it was not. It was still as bright as day. Something must be going on up there…

'Kids! Oh my god! Are you guys ok?' John's mother asked with a worried expression. Mrs. Nathan is this tiny cute person who looked like someone who was twenty instead of thirty two. I made a questioning face at Mrs. Nathan.

'Ah, yes. You don't know yet. They say that some kind of giant space rock is heading straight towards earth. And you know what? Out of all the places it could hit, it's headed straight here! The _ocean_. How troublesome. The people up there are pretty worried. It won't make such a huge impact up there. This thing would only make tsunamis. Though, unfortunately for us, it may still have enough power to crush the glass,' she said pointing at the almost invisible layers of barriers.

'It moves pretty slowly, though,' she continued 'So we may have some time to evacu – 'she cut off as her eyes got wider. Then she fainted.

'Mom!' John shouted and saved her from smashing her head on the ground in time.

'_Oh dear god,' _I heard Camille whisper.

I instinctively looked behind me and up at the sky. It got redder and redder. Then I saw it. A huge, dark and round object hurling into the water hundreds of meters away, corrupting the aquatic color of the ocean into an eerie red color.

The impact was bigger than I thought. I could see the ocean surface rise and explode into the open air and made terrifying waves. I went to hold Camille into my arms and prepared myself for the worst.


	2. Chapter 2: A new world, a new life

Chapter 2: A new world, a new life

I woke up feeling exhausted. I didn't remember sleeping. How long have I been out? Where was I? What _happened _to me? The last thing I remembered was the humongous rock that was going to doom us all. And speaking of us, where were John and Camille? I hoped they were alright.

I stood up to look at my surroundings more carefully. I was in some kind of meadow. Pine trees surrounded the place and only letting enough light to filter through. The light was different. It made me think that it was…_holy._ The fresh green grass that covered half of the meadow smelled wonderful. The other half of the meadow was covered by colorful flowers that bloomed brightly and dozens of butterflies flew over them making it look as if the flowers were moving.

There was a stone path in the middle of the colorful area that snaked ahead leading to a waterfall. There were cool breezes coming from the tiny waterfall. I just realized the sound of water falling from it. Then I realized the chirping birds in the trees.

What a wonderful place. I walked slowly to the waterfall and touched the surface of the crystal-clear lake. It felt like touching air. Only, this was much cooler. I continued to play with the water. Jumping into the lake was so tempting. But I did not think that I should and I did not know why. I cupped the water into my hands and wash it all over my face. I was startled when a voice sounded from my right.

'How easy it is to manipulate the human mind,' He said casually. More to himself than to me. His voice was deep, cool and calm. Then continued, 'just poke around their curiosity and _bing!'_

'Where am I? How did I get here? What happened to me? Who are you?' I murmured all at once.

He inhaled deeply, 'Where you are I do not know. For how you got here, we needed you and we sent a teleporter. You remember? The rock. We needed you. So we sent the rock to get you and your friends. I'm Carlos. Your guide to the new world I am about to unfold.'

'What happened to my _old_ world?'

'Do not fret. Everything is fine.'

'Where are John and Camille?'

'They are being explained to as we speak.'

'So tell me, what's going to happen?'

'You will be tested'

'For what?'

'Your ability,' he said as though this was an obvious thing.

'Or, _abilities,' _he continued.

Then he closed his eyes and moved his lips as though he had been counting the seconds. Then he opened them back again and told me to follow him. I remained where I was, shocked, staring at him as he walked on the lake. He turned to look at me, obviously amused.

'Focus your energy on your feet and just believe you can do it,' he said.

I nodded and tried to focus the 'energy' on my feet. Suddenly, I felt some kind of jolt in my body. Then I felt my feet going funny. That must be it. _I can do this, I can do this, _I thought to myself. I took a step forward. I felt the coolness against my bare feet. But I did not fall into the abyss. This felt nice. It had some kind of tingling sensation. I walked across the lake and joined him at the center.

'Is this even possible?'

He laughed, 'It does in our world'

'Now,' he continued, 'I want you to trust me in this'

I nodded.

'I want you to let go of your senses completely. This is part of the test,' He said.

'But then, I'd fall in,' I said with incredulous eyes.

'Trust me, you will be all right,' He said solemnly.

This was a crazy thing to do. But who else could I trust? He _is_ my guide after all. Oh what the heck. I agreed hesitantly.

'Good. Just block out all senses completely. You can't chicken out. It's impossible. In this place, anything major you do is permanent. So, once you try to cut your life out, that's it. No turning back. You will be saved at the last minute, of course. You ready?'

'Hell no! But it's not like I have a choice. So bring it on,' I said, a little glumly.

'Okay. Anytime you are ready,' he said.

'This is insane,' I said, shaking my head and primed myself.

When I was ready, I counted to three._ One. Two. Three!_ I started with my eyes, nose and ears first. I could not see. I could not hear. I could not breathe. I was suffocating. Panic towered over me. Then I fell into the water.

How long was this going to last? I might have looked peaceful sinking down in the vast abyss. Even _graceful_, probably. But inside, I was shouting my throat sore. It aggravated me that, if I still had my senses, I could still swim back up to the surface. I drifted down the chasm in agony. I was weak. I've never felt so powerless in my entire life. Then my whole life flashed before me. My parents, my childhood, my home, my friends.

John and Camille. _Oh my_. They must be enduring the same thing as me right now. Her beautiful face._ I love you, Camille._ Then, at that moment, her face came into my mind. _I love you too, silly._ Then she giggled her cute laugh. Was this real? Or was I hallucinating? But she looks so _real. _She smiled and shook her head._ I'm so sorry. I'll explain as soon as possible. I_

_love you._ And then she was gone. Hallucination or not, I did not want her to go.

As soon as she was gone, the pain crept back up. I was lost again. Suddenly, the pain was gone. And as suddenly as it went away, my senses abruptly came back to life. I could see, hear and breathe again. Relief washed over me. I inhaled and exhaled deeply. I looked around myself.

What was with this new world of ours and its places? I was lying down on the floor of some white room. Nothing else but white. Then I realized that Camille was there at the corner, leaning against the white wall. She noticed that I was awake and walked to me. Looking up at the ceiling and blushing all the way. What a strange thing to do. She was holding something in her hands and handed them to me. It was clothes. I looked at her with a puzzled expression. She pursed her lips. Fighting back a smile perhaps and blushing deeper. She was still looking up. Then she pointed at my body._ Crap._ I was _naked_!

'Did you peek when I was out?' I asked, squinting at her after I finished putting on the clothes.

She winked at me and my _god_, you would not believe how sexy that was.

'Oh man…' I groaned.

She laughed, 'Sorry, Lucas. I couldn't help it'

I could not help but laugh too. As I said before, you could not stay mad at her for long.

'Where's John?' I asked with a hint of anxiety.

'Over there,' she said as she pointed at the far end of the room.

There, I saw John. If it was not for his dark contrasted hair and his full red lips, you would probably have a hard time spotting him. His skin almost blended in with the whiteness of the room. Then I looked away quickly as I noticed that he was naked too. I caught Camille looking at him. I nudged her and she blushed again.

'_Camille Anne Morganne_, since when have _you_ been this naughty?' I asked, shaking my head.

'Ever since I spent my eighteen years of living with you and John,' she said sheepishly. Then she pouted.

She looked so stunning when she pouted. Then I hugged her and held her very closely to my body. I fixed my eyes onto hers and gazed deep into the depths of the strawberry bliss that was present there. I absent-mindedly played with her hair and grabbed a handful. She then held my face ever so gently. Then we started kissing passionately. Tenderly at first then harder and harder until we stopped in ragged breaths.

'Ugh! Sick, guys!' John was awake now. Camille blushed again.

'Look who's talking!' I said, pointing at his body.

'At least Cammy seems to like it,' he grinned.

'I was not even looking!' she retorted, looking at the floor. But not sounding angry at all. More like embarrassed. I laughed. I should teach her how to lie more properly someday. I knew I was good at it. Though I rarely had to lie.

'Get him some clothes please, Luke' she said, not being able to handle anymore of John.

She held my hand and led me to the pile of clothes. She used her other hand to randomly pick out the garments and not leaving her eyes on me for even a second.

After John finished putting on the clothes, we just sat and talked about our horrible ordeal on the cozy floor. Camille told us that she went through an entirely different thing. Still 'torture' but different. She said she had to go through a maze that was as big as the Atacama Desert. Only, it had floors. Nothing hurt her physically, though. Unlike John.

He said he had to wrestle three different animals: a hog sized ferret, a hybrid between a Siberian tiger and a bull and lastly, a _Dragon. _He told us that the first two were fairly easy but the last was a little more annoying. He even showed us the healing scars on the right side of his body left by the overgrown reptile. There were weapons for each animal and each materializing out of thin air, he said.

They were a little wide eyed when I told my story. But Camille already knew vaguely what happened to me.

'I can't believe they put you through that, Lucas,' she said with a pinch of anger in her tone.

'Yeah, that is unforgivable,' John agreed.

'It wasn't so bad,' I lied.

Then, at that moment, a life-sized pine door appeared in the middle of the room with a loud _snap._ Camille was a little startled and jumped a little but John and I remained the same.

John walked slowly towards the door and touched the doorknob lightly. Nothing happened, so Camille and I walked to stand beside John. John turned it and opened it carefully. Nothing was there. On the other side of the door was the other end of this room. But I had this feeling that there was a pulling force that would suck us through to the other side of the room if we got any closer.

Camille took a step closer. I was too late to grab her. I was right. The door _did_ have this unknown force of pull. It was like a vortex. I saw her being sucked into the other side of the door. The weird thing was that she was there on the other side of the door. John and I looked at each other with puzzled faces. Camille was _still_ in this room. She looked at us and pointed behind us.

'When did that get there?' she asked.

'When did _what_ get there?' John countered as he glanced behind at the white wall.

'That door, Johnny,' she said, still pointing behind us.

I went back to investigate. I laid my hand on the flat surface and began to move in circular motions. There was probably some kind of invisible door fixed onto this very wall. I gestured to Camille to come and show me. She was still looking a little startled. So I gave her a moment to relax.

After she caught back her breath, she prepared herself for the mini-vortex to suck her in. She closed her eyes tightly and stepped an inch closer to the door. But nothing happened. She moved closer to the door. Still, nothing happened. So she just moved forward towards us.

There was a loud thud when she tried to walk through. As though there was an invisible barrier between the two sides. She slammed the barrier with her palm producing another sound.

'I can't get through!' she exclaimed.

I thought for a while. A lot of strange things have been happening to us. Task after task have been given to us. But how do we solve this one? We needed help. And indeed, help came. In a good way and in a bad way.


	3. Chapter 3: The Counselling Room

Chapter 3: The Counseling Room

Everything dissolved before me. It all swirled like a vast whirlpool, sucking me in with it. Next thing I knew, I was in a large high-ceilinged room with humongous tall pillars supporting it.

There were a lot of other people in there. Teens, mostly. They formed a line. And I was at the back. They seemed to be moving forward. I squint my eyes to where they were all headed.

At the far end of the line was a woman sitting on a grand mahogany table. The woman had a wise face and pale blue eyes that looked like they could read thoughts. It probably would not be clever to lie. But what intrigued me was that behind her, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I wondered if I could find the end to that passage. It looked as if it would never end. It was scary. But to my horror, that was where all the people who passed the lady were going. Well, I could see why not. Because it seemed to be the only way you could go to get out of this place.

The line moved slowly. So that gave me time to take in my surroundings. I realized that nothing in this room produced light. But light was definitely present. It was certainly odd.

Then I took a look at the people. They looked as clueless as I was. Though some were chattering and laughing. Some were making friends. I figured that I should be making friends too. The guy in front of me was sort of kind looking.

He had extremely contrasted dark curly hair, pale white creamy skin, dark green eyes, a straight athletic nose, wide jaws, full red lips and gleaming white teeth. He looked athletic.

He somehow looked very familiar, as though I've known him my whole life. I figured that the whole 'Have we met?' thing would be a great conversation starter. And so I did.

'Hello. I'm Lucas Raphael. You can call me Luke. Have we met?' I said cheerfully.

'Hi. My name is John. John Nathan. No, I don't think we have. But you look incredibly familiar,' he said, grinning and giving me a handshake.

'Where do you think we are?' I asked.

'From what I've heard, it's some kind of counseling room. A place where we get judged,' John said.

'Judged for what?'

He shrugged. 'Everything, I guess'

'Let's ask people'

'Let's'

And so we did. After probably fifteen minutes of continuous asking, we finally settled for the information we had: The dark tunnel led to a place, we would be asked a question that would decide our fate and not to worry.

A _pop _sound came from behind my back. I was in this room long enough to know what that meant. Someone new arrived. I looked behind me. Standing behind me(a little dazed and confused looking) was the most beautiful creature I have ever set my eyes upon(for as long as I could remember. And that was not much because everything about my past is quite hazy).

She had glowing gold skin, dark brown eyes, plump red lips, wavy dark shoulder-length hair, a pear-shaped body that truly illustrated its curves and long slender tanned legs that made me want to think inappropriate thoughts.

I could not help but grin at her. She did likewise, showing me white teeth with razor-sharp fangs that horribly reminded me of vampires. I shuddered. She must have seen it because she glued her lips together and blushed.

'I am truly sorry if I have scared you. My teeth are…dentally enhanced, you might say,' she said with a smile. Her voice was deep and sexy and it made me swoon. How attracting this girl was!

'Are you okay?' she asked, giggling.

'Y-yes,' I managed to say.

I realized that John was next in line to sit at the table where the woman sat. To be honest, I was a little worried about him. But somehow, I knew he was going to be alright. When he was next, I wished him luck and after he thanked me he stepped forward and sat.

'Ooh. Your friend is so…yummy,' Rose said dreamily.

I could not help feeling a little pang of jealousy. But it did not matter. I felt that I was already taken. But I'm not so sure by whom.

'You're not so bad yourself,' she added, winking at me (I felt a little better).

Rose gave me a gentle push forward. So I was next. I felt slightly edgy. What if I couldn't answer any of her questions?

I sat down (rather hesitantly) and did not dare to look straight at the woman. So I just looked hard at the table.

'Lucas,' she said in a warm and friendly voice, 'I have been expecting you.'

This made me incline my head and look straight at her. Her face was not at all how I expected it to be. Her face looked kind and graceful. I felt bad for thinking that she was cold looking and mean. She was not at all like that.

'Can you tell me why I'm here?' I asked.

'That is for you to find out yourself,' she said, 'you are part of a prophecy, Lucas. And you will embark on a quest that most will fail. You will find what is most important to you in this quest. Surprises of all sorts will ambush you to keep you going or to keep you away.'

'But why me? I can't do this thing on my own. Can't I get some kind of help?'

'Your friends will accompany you on your journey. They will stick with you to the very end. And my young hero, you must remember this: Quarrels do not last forever'

'Got it…What would happen if I fail?'

'Alas, I do not know the answer to that. Now please, there are people waiting for their questions to be answered. Behind me is the Tunnel of Faith. To those who do not have faith, will never find the exit. It will be dark. Just keep a hand on the wall and walk alongside it. Remember to have faith. The tunnel can lead you to insanity. You will hear screams and shrieks which is rather disturbing, so I advise you to be as brave as possible. Good luck, young one'

She smiled and gave me a gentle nod. Now, I just have to go into the tunnel. I stood up and thanked her. I looked at the tunnel. A chill ran up my spine. I trembled at the sight of it. But I think I can handle it.

I turned to Rose and gave her an encouraging smile. She had to go in too. Even though she looked highly capable of handling things by herself, I didn't have the heart to leave her to go into the tunnel by herself. An idea struck my mind.

'Rose,' I whispered, 'I'll wait for you in the tunnel. It would be too dark to see each other. This is why we are going to hoot. Got it?'

She bit her lip and nodded. She looked a little hesitant.

'What's wrong?' I asked.

She sighed. For a moment, I thought she did not want to go with _me._ But that was not it.

'I overheard your conversation,' she said, 'the woman said that we had to have faith. What we're about to do isn't very faithful.'

'Oh. No, it's not like that. I just want to go with _you._' I said.

At this, she smiled and giggled and blushed.

Then I absent-mindedly held her hand and kissed it gently. Her skin was so _soft._ It was like kissing a baby's bottom.

At _this_, she went as red as her luscious lips.

I let go of her hand and waved her goodbye. I slowly walked toward the huge mass of empty darkness and took a deep breath. I realized I was hesitant about this. I glanced behind me. Rose was already sitting down with the woman and deeply immersed in conversation. I sighed deeply. _It's all going to be okay, _I thought.


	4. Chapter 4: Into The Tunnel

Chapter 4: Into the Tunnel

I put my left hand against the left wall of the tunnel. It felt rather moist and freezing cold. This was probably just to make us give up and lose faith. But that would not work on me. I was smart enough to know this.

I took a careful fifty steps or so forwards. Just enough to lose the light from the counseling room so that I could hide myself.

I made hooting sounds every thirty seconds or so. Thirty minutes seemed to pass and I heard no other hooting sounds other than myself.

Where was she? I started to panic. I have to control myself. I _had_ to control myself. If I did not, who knows what might happen. Then I heard the light thuds of footsteps. Could it be Rose? Why wasn't she hooting?

'Rose?' I called out silently. She had to be in hearing range by now.

No response. The footsteps did not stop. Then, the sound died suddenly. Then I heard something else. It was a vicious snarl.

Fear gripped me. I waved my arms frantically, trying to shield myself from whatever it was. Then my hands got seized by whatever that was producing the snarling sounds. Its grasp on my hands were peculiarly strong. I could not fight back. It was too strong. So I gave up waving my arms. The thing pinned me to the wall. I guess this was the end for me.

I could feel the cold breath of the thing holding me. Its breath smelled incredibly sweet and inviting. Then, the thing muttered a tiny _hoot_ continued by a series of adorable giggling. Relief washed over me. I could not help laughing too. Rose embraced me tightly. Her body firm against my body. She rested her head against my chest. We held hands for a moment. They were seriously cold. What was up with this chill?

'Luke, you're so _warm,' _she said deeply, 'I like it.'

'And _you_ are cold,' I countered in the same tone, 'I like it.'

Next thing I knew, we were tongue tied. Warm and cool. I pulled her tighter against my body. We ended in ragged breaths. The experience was breathtaking. But it felt familiar. As though I had the same kind of kiss.

'Okay. I think we have to start moving now,' I said, somewhat awkwardly.

'Okay,' she said.

We walked silently. I could still taste Rose on my lips. To be honest, I wanted to kiss her again. But I knew I could not push it. That would be desperate.

I held her close to me. I half expected her to resist. But she did not. That made me glad.

Our feet did not make any noise. The silence was almost overwhelming. I could feel it banging against my eardrums. It was very eerie. I wanted it to end.

I could not see anything. I just let my hand lead us. The path never bent, though. We might as well walk forwards. But we did not. I did not trust that idea very much.

Then it suddenly clicked. _That_ must have been the problem. Why we couldn't find the exit. I wasn't _supposed _to keep my hand on the wall. I was supposed to _trust._ It was all a test. A test on trust.

'Rose,' I started, 'I'm going to let go of my hand from the wall. Now, I want you to trust me. Got it?'

'Okay,' she said weakly.

I let go of my hand. Then, almost instantly, everything got a little brighter. And it increased gradually. Bright enough for me to be able to make out the outlines of Rose. The light shooed away the uncanny darkness that filled the tunnel. I started hearing music. It was faint. But it was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I think it only consisted of two notes. It was the sound of a new and young world. It made the hope in my chest swell ready to explode.

We walked a little more brisk. Until finally, we came to an opening.

The cool breeze was sweet and fresh with the morning dew still existing. The grass was green and they were moving rhythmically to the breezes as if in a dance. Mountains rose as high as the heavens would allow them. Trees made a huge circular shape, which made a clearing in the middle. And in the middle of the clearing was a glittering wide azure lake. On the center of it was a tiny plot of land. On it was a tree.

The tree was gigantic and broad. The trunk of the tree was a nice emerald color. The roots spread far out into the ground. The leaves were tinted violet. Things were hanging on the branches. I suppose they were the fruits of the tree.

The fruits were cherry shaped and red. Really truly red. They would be fit to be fist-sized rubies. It had an attracting pull towards it.

I realized that something was revolving over the tree. A huge bird, by the looks of it. It looked like it was glowing. The bird was scarlet. _A phoenix_, I thought. It uttered a loud echoing crow. Its beating wings made deep loud sounds in the magnificent sky. Looking at the phoenix made me acknowledge the other animals.

Birds (or at least I thought they were) were soaring and chirping cheerfully. There were all sorts of queer animals. There was a particular pack of animals that I was careful not to get close with. I recognized them to be more or less like lions and tigers. But these were huge and had teeth the size of cleavers.

I didn't like them. It was as though I had some kind of ancient rivalry with them.

They sat at the edges of the lake. Opposite from them were a pack of wolves. But they were different from the normal wolves. These wolves were _huge_. They were the size of baby elephants, to say the least. They all had different colors and patterns. There were about a dozen of them.

Rose gave me a gentle tug on my arm. I realized that I was slowly walking towards them. The wolves gazed at me longingly, as though I were meant to be with them. I shook my head.

In the distance, I saw a bright red barn. A large, muscled man was sowing the fields. We approached him.

'So, you got through,' he said in a deep calm voice. He kept working his field.

'Can you please tell us what to do next?' I asked.

Instead of answering my question, he turned and lunged at me. I evaded him with ease. I admit, I was quite surprised by his speed. He looked so heavy with his muscled body.

He grinned, 'We haven't had your kind in quite a while. You must be Lucas'.

'Yes, I am. How do you know my name? And what do you mean '_your kind'?_' I asked.

Despite the genuine smile he was giving me, I felt kind of offended. As though I were some kind of zoo animal.

I turned to Rose. She looked totally stunned.

'What?' I asked.

'How did you _do _that?' she asked with incredulous eyes.

'Do what?'

'You…_dissolved_? I can't really explain what happened,' she muttered.

'What do you mean I _dissolved_?' I asked.

All this was not making sense.

'When he lunged, you turned into a…smoky shadow,' she said, not even believing herself.

I turned into a _smoky shadow?_ All I remember was dodging that charge. She must think I'm some kind of freak. But the next thing she said wronged my judgment.

'_That was so cool!'_ She exclaimed.

I turned back to the muscled guy. He was still grinning. Then he held out his hand. I shook it.

'My name is Marcus. I take care of the people who get past the tunnel and notify them of whose bloodline they come from. You, Lucas, are the new merciful Lord of Shadows.'


End file.
